At the end of September, we took a 4 day-trip to Medell�n which, after the capital city of Bogot�, is the second largest city in Colombia with a population of 2.4 million inhabitants. One of the northern most cities of the Andes in South America, Medell�n is a thriving industrial city which after it was founded in 1616 grew fast due to its gold and later the coffee production. The Antioquia department where Medell�n is located was fairly isolated from the rest of Colombia for many years because of the difficulty of the terrain to get there as it is nestled in the middle of the Cordillera Central, on the foothills of the high mountain range descending into the Aburr� Valley. It wasn't until the coffee production accelerated in the 20th century when the city grew very fast. Its tempered climate of nearly 70-75 F degrees throughout the year makes the city very attractive to live in.

Medell�n was first in the country to start the Industrial revolution in the early 1900s becoming center in Colombia for commerce mainly in textiles and technology. It boasts the only metro system in the country which runs almost the entire length of the city, with metro cables running up the high hills where mostly very poor people live. They recently extended the metro toward the east part of the city, making the metro line into a "t" to cover a large portion of the city. The metro is fairly fast, very clean and runs very smoothly.

Paisas, as people from Antioquia are called, are very industrious and prosperous people. Their work ethic is unparalleled to people in the rest of the country. They are proud people and strive to keep their city very clean to the point that it is rather funny to encounter so many signs everywhere asking people not to throw garbage on the streets and to wash their hands. We saw these signs behind toilet doors, in art galleries, at the metro station, even in churches. We took a picture of one of these signs as they seemed to be an important icon around the city.

There are many attractions in the city. It is called the Flower Capital of Colombia with orchids being a mayor attraction and it hosts an international flower festival every year. It has been the birth of many famous artists such as Fernando Botero, made famous for his wide sculptures. He donated a large collection of his sculptures to the city which opened two of the 3 floors of the Antioquia museum for Botero's works and it dedicated the park in front of the museum for his statues. It is also a center of science and medicine with a well-known heart transplant hospital where doctors performed some of the first heart transplants in the world.

Unfortunately in the 1980s and early 1990s Medell�n became the base of powerful drug trafficking organizations named by the Americans as the Medell�n Cartel. Lead by the infamous Pablo Escobar, the Colombian civil conflict centered in Medell�n with the guerrillas, the paramilitaries and the narcos trying to gain control of it.

However, by 2000 Medell�n became a normal city, again due to the many changes brought about by President Uribe's government. Also, local government and its citizens in general have gone to great lengths to shake off its bad reputation and improve the image of the city, with tangible results.

We very much enjoyed our time in Medell�n. One day we took a city tour bus which for $15,000 pesos (or about 7 dollars) took us on a 5-hour tour of the city stopping in places of interest. Another day we took the Metro and one of the cable rides for $1.5 US each way. We made several stops, visiting Botero's museum and the Botanical Gardens. We ate a very good restaurants but the one that stands out is Restaurante Mondogos in the El Poblado area, famous for its tripe soup. Yes, tripe! Maria thought she would never eat that again as she does not eat beef but we loved this soup.

In sum, if you want to see a great city in South America while enjoying gorgeous views and fantastic weather you should visit Medellin. We took several pictures of Medell�n which you can find in the blog's "Photo Gallery" in the album called "Medellin". You can read more about Medell�n in Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medell%C3%ADn